Solution to Imperfection

Word 1

Horizontal clues:

the 28th element, a common metal used by the U.S. Mint, between cobalt and copper in the periodic table NICKEL
the 28th state (gave up its sovereignty Dec. 29, 1845) TEXAS
the 28th President, wanted to make the world “safe for democracy” WILSON
the 28th Best Picture Oscar winner (1955), starring Ernest Borgnine MARTY
123

Vertical clues:

1. (unscramble) hang around; delay: WAIT
2. (unscramble) one of the world's most popular foods: RICE
3. perfect, or, at least, not at all impossible: EASY


Word 1 (the answer to vertical clue 3): E A S Y



Word 2

Horizontal clues: Adjectives for the Perfect...

(except for the 28-letter one, which is just an anagram, but who knows more than one 28-letter word?)

fruit R I P E
polygon R E G U L A R
explanation (not as hard as a PROBLEM in CHINESE) C O M P R E H E N S I B L E
MAN AIDS A MINISTER IN HIS BATTLES A N T I D I S E S T A B L I S H M E N T A R I A N I S M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Vertical clues:

1. Messrs. Carew and Steiger each take one when they go fishing: ROD
2. sultan (unscramble): EMIR; mud (unscramble): MIRE; ice (unscramble): RIME
3. never teach them to sing (unscramble): PIGS
4. perfect: PURE
5. sediment or dregs (unscramble): LEES; otherwise (unscramble): ELSE
6. you can wear one on your head (unscramble): HAT
7. period (unscramble): ERA; exist (unscramble): ARE; Tyson snack (unscramble): EAR


Word 2 (the answer to vertical clue 4): P U R E



Word 3

Horizontal clues:

A. perfect, according to Kelvin A B S O L U T E
B. perfect alignment of the planets S Y Z Y G Y
C. cylindrical slang for perfect, ten years agoT U B U L A R
D. imperfect form of iron (ore, actually) H E M A T I T E
E. whole, pristine, intact, perfect U N B R O K E N
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Cross clues:

Every 28-31 days M O N T H L Y
D3 A4 E8 C1 D1 C5 B4
former pirate refuge, nickname for our Bay Area: ___ Coast B A R B A R Y
A2 A1 C7 E3 D4 E4 B6
like necklaces, but near the feet A N K L E T S
C6 E2 E6 A5 D2 D7 B1
fertilized gametes Z Y G O T E S
B3 B2 B5 E5 D5 E7 A3


The six different letters used most frequently in the A-E answers: E T U A B Y

Unscramble to form Word 3: we often expect it from perfection: B E A U T Y



Word 4

24:Product of consecutive integers  F  A C T O R  I  A L
25:Interesting factors; unhip  S  Q U A R  E  
26:Its factors add up to less than itself; inadequate; lacking something  D   E   F   I  C  I   E   N  T
27:More interesting factors C U B  E  
28:Its factors add up to itself P  E  R  F   E  C T
29:All multiples of its reciprocals repeat the same digits in the same order1; sorcery; wizardry M A G  I  C
30:Its factors add up to more than itself; plentiful, copious, profuse, overflowing A B U  N   D  A  N  T
31:Factors? What factors? P R  I  M  E  
32:Still more interesting factors (2 words)  F   I   F  T  H     P O W  E  R


The seven different letters: F I S E D N H plus another copy of one of them: I

Unscramble. Note that the two copies of the same letter are marked with a *:

Word 4, the last word from part 1:FINISHED
**


(1)I learned that meaning of "magic number" as a child and can not find a corroborating published definition. Also, which numbers are magic varies from base to base.

The Last Word


What do you get when you remove what is Perfect from The Immaculate Universe?

Take all the letters in the four words and drop letters in pairs, i.e., two occurrences of the same letter:
Start with:EASYPUREBEAUTYFINISHED
Drop:      EASYUEEAUYIISE
Get:       PRBTFNHD
Add The Immaculate Universe:
Get:       PRBTFNHDTHEIMMACULATEUNIVERSE
Delete Perfect:
Get:       BNHDTHIMMAULATUNIVERSE
KEEP only paired letters:
Drop:      BDLVRS
Get:       NNHHTTIIMMAAUUEE
Keep only one letter from each pair:
Get:       NHTIMAUE


You're nearly done, but what you have is not quite perfect. Finally, you must change one of the letters into a different letter. Then you can unscramble the result to find out the answer to the question:

What do you get when you remove what is Perfect from The Immaculate Universe?

HUMANITY